Seminole Rest - Oak Hill, FL
N 28° 52.237 W 080° 50.215
17R E 515904 N 3193662
Seminole Rest, also known as Snyder Hill, Oak Hill, and Live Oak Hill, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Waymark Code: WMJ10C
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2013
Views: 6
"...Seminole Rest, a former plantation on the Indian River. Sitting atop a series of large middens topped with cedars and an oak hammock – it holds thousands of years of history, first as a coastal encampment for Florida’s early peoples (2000 B.C. – 1040 A.D.) and during the Spanish period, home for the Ais and Timucua Indians.
There are two historic buildings on site, including the Instone House, a plantation home built before the 1890s, and a caretaker’s cottage of a similar vintage."
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"At Seminole Rest several mounds exist, evidencing that this lifeway continued for hundreds of years. The largest is Snyder's Mound, which lies on the shore of Mosquito Lagoon. It was a large quahog clam processing center and dates from approximately A.D. 600-1420. It was used primarily between A.D. 700-1100. It measures approximately 740 feet from north to south and about 340 feet east to west and is approximately 13 feet high. Archeological testing recovered very few artifacts, which suggests that the mound was used seasonally for the gathering and processing of clams that were then taken elsewhere and consumed. Processing would have consisted of removing the shell and drying or smoking the clams. Over many seasons the clamshells accumulated and resulted in the large mound. No evidence of burials in the mound has been found and none is expected given the difficulty of excavation and the burial practices of the time.
The landscape of the site's historic period is thought to be relatively intact.
The archeological significance of the Seminole Rest mounds lies in the fact that they have survived relatively intact when 70% of the mounds in Volusia County have been destroyed. They are also significant because they are the only remaining mounds known to have data covering the Orange-St. Johns II periods. The scientific value of the mounds is high."
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